Allen West, We don't want to repeat Bush's economic record

Cyrus

Conservative views from a die-hard Conservative. A graduate from Rush Limbaugh Institute of Higher Learning. Majored in Advanced Conservative Studies. 

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http://conservativeviewsforthegrassroots.blogspot.com/2011/05/allen-west-we-dont-want-to-repeat-bushs.html

It happens to everybody. Many are willing to forget the prosperity during George W. Bush tenure. The media rammed down our throat about Bush's spending and it became the narrative. Unfortunately, people tend to forget Bush had to handle the recession he inherited from Bill Clinton and the economic devastation of 9/11. Unlike Obama's spending, George W. Bush invested in America's safety and America's economy.

I do like Allen West, but he is blinded not to believe Bush's economic policy was sound. To suggest that America can't afford to repeat Bush's economic record is very ignorant. I agree in cutting spending, but there is a big difference in spending wastefully, and investing wisely. If tax cuts have proven to work under JFK, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush, I am unable to understand there are people to think otherwise. Since cutting taxes spurred more tax revenues, people forgot that under Bush we experience 52 months of economical growth after 9/11, unemployment was in record lows, the GDP grew on average 2.2% annually, and people were spending more to grow the economy.

Here are some of the important highlights of Bush's economic record:

- Household consumption. The ICP study found that the average per-capita consumption of the U.S. population (citizens and illegal immigrants combined) was second only to Luxembourg's, out of 146 countries covered in 2005. The U.S. average was $32,045. This was well above the levels in the UK ($25,155), Canada ($23,526), France ($23,027) and Germany ($21,742). China stood at $1,751.

- Health services. The U.S. spends easily the highest amount per capita ($6,657 in 2005) on health, more than double that in Britain. But because of private funding (55% of the total) the burden on the U.S. taxpayer (9.1% of GDP) is kept to similar levels as France and Germany. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 84.7% of the U.S. population was covered by health insurance in 2007, an increase of 3.6 million people over 2006. The uninsured can receive treatment in hospitals at the expense of private insurance holders. While life expectancy is influenced by lifestyles and not just access to health services, the World Bank nevertheless reports that average life expectancy in the U.S. rose to 78 years in 2006 (the same as Germany's), from 77in 2000.

- Income and wealth distribution. The latest World Bank estimates show that the richest 20% of U.S. households had a 45.8% share of total income in 2000, similar to the levels in the U.K. (44.0%) and Israel (44.9%). In 65 other countries the richest quintile had a larger share than in the U.S…

- Employment. The U.S. employment rate, measured by the percentage of people of working age (16-65 years) in jobs, has remained high by international standards. The latest OECD figures show a rate of 71.7% in 2006. This was more than five percentage points above the average for the euro area. The U.S. unemployment rate averaged 4.7% from 2001-2007. This compares with a 5.2% average rate during President Clinton's term of office, and is well below the euro zone average of 8.3% since 2000.

Therefore, if Allen West wants a smaller government, I agree with him. If he think ending tax breaks to American, he is wrong! If he thinks we should repeat Bush's economic record, Allen West is not ready for prime time.

(The Hill) Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) criticized the economic record of his party’s last president on Sunday, saying George W. Bush’s administration was not committed enough to limiting government.

“He grew government. And he increased the government’s spending,” the freshman congressman, a Tea Party favorite, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“And, so, you cannot have a cut in taxes and also have a gross enlargement of government. That’s one of the things we don’t want to see happen,” West added.

The tax cuts that Bush signed into law early in his presidency continue to be debated, with Republicans calling for them to be made permanent at all income levels and Democrats wanting to raise rates at the highest income levels.

West and Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.), his sparring partner on the Sunday show, both said that policymakers should look for ways to eliminate waste within the government.

But they sharply disagreed about whether new tax revenue, possibly from a reform of the tax code, would be used to find a bipartisan agreement on reducing deficits.

“The fact is that you cannot have two wars that are on the books that are unpaid for, tax breaks that are unpaid for for the wealthiest Americans and at the same time say that we’re going to balance our budget off the backs of seniors,” said Edwards, who has been sharply critical of the GOP plan to overhaul Medicare..

For his part, West said he is on record calling for the elimination of tax breaks.

But, he added: “Until we show that we’re willing to be fiscally responsible up here, why should we continue to tax Americans, why should we continue to take away their most precious resource, if we’re not going to do the right things up here?”